Popular cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp has been acquired by South Korean NXC Corporation for an undisclosed sum in what the company is calling a “strategic, long-term investment” into the cryptocurrency space.

Bitstamp Acquired by Nexon Parent Company

Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp confirmed today that it has been acquired by Belgium-based investment firm NXMH in a deal that was signed into effect on October 25.

Neither party has disclosed the price tag related to the acquisition; however, reports suggest that the deal sees NXMH receiving an 80% stake in Bitstamp, while Nejc Kodrič, co-founder and CEO of the exchange, will retain a 10% stake. The Dan Morehead-led crypto investment company Pantera Capital also sold a portion of their ownership in Bitstamp to NXMH, but retained a 6% stake.

Investment company NXMH is a subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate NXC Corporation, which is also the parent company of video game giant Nexon Co., Ltd. Rumors first circulated back in April that Nexon was interested in potentially acquiring Bitstamp, but Nexon said at the time the company did “not have any plans to link cryptocurrencies with our game business.”

In July, some business filings were discovered that appeared to link the NXC-owned NXMH to Bitstamp, after the company registered Bitstamp Holdings N.V. earlier this year. Despite signs pointing to discussions between the two companies dating back as far as April 2018, Kodrič said the “sale wasn’t planned,” and that “Bitstamp started to get approached by buyers in the middle of last year.”

“There was no active effort to go around and solicit buyers,” Kodrič said, reports Reuters.

According to Kodrič, the firm had four different potential buyers, but decided to stick with NXMH because the exchange will be allowed to operate under its current roadmap, with little oversight or intervention from any NXC-owned subsidiaries.

“We are now entering a new era in our company’s history, which has come a long way since it began seven years ago in a garage with two laptops and EUR 1000,” Kodrič added.

NXC also owns another South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, Korbit, which it acquired last year for $80 million. NXC aims to keep the two exchanges operating separately; however, plans on “generating synergies in a number of areas, including technology, research and development.”

On NXC’s website, it says it invests in “valuable digital ideas and technologies”. The firm clearly sees Bitstamp as such, calling it a “strategic, long-term investment”. Founded in 2011, cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp was created to become an alternative to the infamous and now defunct Mt. Gox.